Chinese Grammar Flashcards
position of direct and indirect objects
tā gěi wǒ yī běn shū
她给我一本书。
position of prepositional phrases
always occurs right before verb
position of prepositional phrases: He eats dinner with his girlfriend.
tā gēn tā de nǔ péngyou chī wǎnfàn。
location phrase position
always occurs before verb phrase
I eat at home.
wǒ zài jiā chī fàn
我在家吃饭。
position of “time when” phrases
subject + time when + predicate (always at start of predicate)
I drink coffee every day with my friend.
wǒ měitiān gēn wǒ de péngyou hē kāfēi。
我每天跟我的朋友喝咖啡。
If “time when” is emphasized or contrasted with another time…
…may occur before the subject.
order of “time when” with location phrases
subject + time when + location + verb phrase
I eat at home every day.
wǒ měitiān zài jiā chīfàn。
我每天在家吃饭。
position of adverbs
occur at the beginning of the predicate, before the verb and any prepositional phrase
Last month I only saw one movie.
wǒ shàng ge yuè zhǐ kàn le yí gè diànyǐng。
我上个月只看了一个电影。
position of negation
occurs before verb and any prepositional phrase, usually after an adverb
position of duration phrases
directly follow the verb
I lived in China for 3 years.
wǒ zài Zhōngguǒ zhù le sān nián。
我在中国住了三年。
order within the noun phrase
main noun in the noun phrase (the head noun) occurs as last word in the phrase. All modifying phrases come before head noun.
position of direct and indirect objects
subject + verb + indirect object + direct object
No one doesn’t like himself.
měiyǒu rén bù xǐhuan zìjǐ de。
没有人不喜欢自己的。
I hope they will get married, but I myself don’t plan to get married.
wǒ xīwàng tāmen jiéhūn, kěshì wǒ zìjǐ bù xiǎng jiéhūn。
我希望结婚,可是我自己不想结婚。
This is MY affair [not yours].
zhè shì wǒ zìjǐ de shì。
这是我自己的事。
poor me
kělián de wǒ。
可怜的我。
pretty her
měilì de tā。
美丽的她。
She said she is very busy today.
tā shuō tā jīntiān hěn máng。
她说她今天很忙。
I know he doesn’t have any money.
wǒ zhīdào tā méiyǒu qián。
我知道他没有钱。
I’d better go now. If I don’t go I will be late.
我děi zǒu le。Zài bù zǒu jiù wǎn lo。
我得走了。再不走就晚咯。
的
de – noun modification
得
de – postverbal adverbial modification
地
de – preverbal adverbial modification
着
zhe – duration
I wrote her a letter.
wǒ gěi tā xiě le yì fēng xìn。
我给她写了一封信。
I went to the library.
wǒ dào túshūguǎn qù
le。
我到图书馆去了。
That child has a bad temper.
Nàge háizi,píqi hěn huài。那个孩子,脾气很坏。
Mutton, I don’t particularly like to eat it.
yángròu,wǒ bú tài xǐhuan chī。
羊肉,我不太喜欢吃。
7,066
qī qiān líng liù shí liù
七千零六十六
9,102
jiǔ qiān yì bǎi líng èr
九千一百零二
25,250
liǎngwàn wǔ qiān èrbǎi wǔshí
2,225,250
liǎngbǎi èrshí’èr wàn
两百二十二万
522,225,250
wǔyì liǎngqiān èrbǎi èrshí’èr wàn
more or less
number + classifier (+ noun) + zuǒyòu
左右
“about,” almost
chàbuduō + number + classifier
差不多
number (+ classifier + noun) + “or more”
yǐshàng
以上
…“or fewer”
number (+ classifier + noun) + yǐxià
以下
within one year
yì nián yǐnèi
一年以内
more than 50 people
(number + duo + classifier)
wǔshì duō ge rén
五十多个人
I’ll come back in a day or two.
wǒ yī liǎng tiān jiù huí lai
我一两天就回来。
This thing sells for around three or four dollars.
zhège dōngxi mài sān sì kuài qián zuǒyòu
这个东西买三四块钱左右。
one third
sān fēn zhī
yī
三分之一
10%
bǎi fēn zhī shí
百分之十
1.1
一点一
0.35
líng diǎn sān wǔ
零点三五
3-1/2 cups (of water)
sān bēi bàn (shuǐ)
三杯半水
“fold” (twofold, threefold, etc.)
bèi
倍
Prices have all doubled.
jiàgé dōu zēngjiā le yī bèi le。
价格都增加了一倍了。
I have twice as many books as you.
wǒ de shū shì nǐ de shū de liǎng bèi。
我的书是你的书的两倍。
You give a discount?
dǎ zhé ma?
打折吗?
20% off, 80% of discounted price
bā zhé
八折
odd numbers
dānhào
单号
even numbers
shuānghào
双号
Please come to me.
qǐn g dào wǒ zhèr lái。
请到我这儿来。
one sheet of paper (also for table, photo, flat shapes)
yì zhāng zhǐ
一张纸
this pen
zhè zhī gāngbǐ
这枝钢笔
one house
yī suǒ fángzi
一所房子
classifier for animals
zhī
只
classifier for cars
liàng
辆
classifier for things with handles (one chair)
yī bǎ yǐzi
一把椅子
classifier for film
bù
部
yī bù diànyǐng
classifier for clothing items
jiàn
件
1/2 kilogram
jīn
斤
bowl
wǎn
碗
loaf
tiáo
条
slice/piece
kuài
块
bottle
píng
瓶
pot/vase
hú
壶
bouquet
shù
束
a car that I like
wǒ xǐhuan de chē
我喜欢的车
a written character
xiě de zì
写的字
the people who have come
lái de rén
来的人
the person who sells books
mài shū de rén
买书的人
a student who has come from Japan
cóng Rìběn lái de xuésheng
从日本来的学生
the things he likes
tā xǐhuan de dōngxi
他喜欢的东西
the movie that we saw
wǒmen kàn de diànyǐng
我们看的电影
whose book?
shéi de shū?
谁的书?
those two very smart exchange students who you introduced me to
[nǐ gěi wǒ jièshào de] [nà liǎng ge] [hěn cōngming de] liúxuéshēng
你给我介绍的那两个很聪明的留学生
3 years afterward, after 3 years
sān nián yǐhòu
三年以后
rarher
bǐjiào
比较
quite
xiāngdāng
相当
especially
tèbié
特别
yóuqí 尤其
extremely
jíqí
极其
more
gèng
更
to be terrific
hǎojíle 好极了
hǎo de bùdéliǎo 好的不得了
He is taller than you.
tā bǐ nǐ gāo
他比你高
He is even taller.
tā gèng gāo;tā hái (yào )gāo
I am not as tall as you.
wǒ méiyǒu nǐ gāo。
我没有你高。
both… and…
yòu… yòu…
又。。。又。。。
Things are more and more expensive.
dōngxi yuè lái yuè guì
东西越来越贵。
more and more
yuè lái yuè
越来越
the more (action), the more (adjectival verb)
yuè。。。yuè。。。
越。。。越。。。
It was YESTERDAY that he came. He came YESTERDAY.
tā shì zuótiān lái de。
他是昨天来的。
It may rain tomorrow.
míngtiān huì xià yǔ。
明天会下雨。
néng
能
expresses physical ability or the unobstructed ability to perform some action
He can’t drink alcohol.
tā bù kěyǐ hē jiǔ。
他不可以喝酒。
must
bìxū,bìděi
必须,必得
not necessary
bù bì
不必
must not, not allowed
bù xǔ
不许
he attended class
tā shàng kè le
她上课了。
I didn’t buy a computer.
wǒ méi mǎi diànnǎo
我没买电脑。
He is speaking.
tā zài shuōzhe huà ne。
他在说着话呢。
to hang (clothing)
guà
挂
to become sick
bìng
病
to depart
líkāi
离开
I’ll come looking for you at 2:00, okay?
wǒ (zài) liǎng diǎn zhōng lái zhǎo nǐ,xíng ma?
我在两点钟来找你,行吗?
What did he say to you?
tā duì nǐ shuō le shénme huà?
他对你说了什么话?
He slowly walked out of the dorm.
de cóng tā mànman sùshè zǒuchūlái le。
他慢慢的从宿舍走出来了。
he’s thinking about going to the library to look for books.
tā xiǎng dào túshūguǎn qù zhǎo shū。
他想到图书馆去找书。
He went into the city.
tā jìn chéng qù 了。
他进城去了。
He wrote a letter on my behalf.
tā gěi wǒ xiě xìn le。
他给我写信了。
He borrowed a book from me.
tā xiàng wǒ jiè shū le。
他向我借书了。
She bought a book for me.
tā gěi wǒ mǎi shū le。
她给我买书了。
My wallet was stolen by someone.
wǒ de píbāo bèi rénjiā tōuzǒu le。
我的皮包被人家偷走了。
My book was lost by my friend.
wǒ de shū jiào péngyou nòngdiū le。
我的书叫朋友弄丢了。